


Network

by theron09



Category: Leverage, Supernatural, White Collar
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-30
Updated: 2013-06-30
Packaged: 2017-12-16 16:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/864009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theron09/pseuds/theron09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After receiving an intriguing email, Quinn heads to Portland where he receives an interesting proposition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Network

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the leveragexchange over at livejournal, as a gift for lady_yasha.  
> Spoilers for right up to the end of Leverage.

Quinn is on a beach blending in with the tourists in the south of France and trying not to get shot at when he gets the email. His cell phone dings at him until he drops down onto a lounger and pulls it out to check his messages; the only contact he usually gets is from people who want him to work for them, and he’s learned that it’s usually best to respond quickly whatever his answer rather than risk causing offence. A quick glance at his inbox tells Quinn his new email is from an unknown contact, and he takes a look around to double-check the local’s he’s _upset_ haven’t found him before reading it.

The email holds an opportunity, one he hadn’t expected to be given.

Quinn’s worked with people before, worked with a team before even, but he’s never been a _part of_ a team before, and now Eliot Spencer is offering him that chance.

The thing is, he’s not entirely sure he wants to take it – a team means people relying on him, especially if, like Eliot’s proposing, he’s heading up a team in a different part of the world rather than being based in Portland. It’s an interesting idea – one, he decides as he hears angry shouts being directed at him, that he wouldn’t mind hearing more about.

He could do with a break from the sun, anyway.

 

~~

  
  
The email hadn’t been exaggerating when it had warned him to be prepared for rain, Quinn thinks as he makes his way from the taxi cab to the address he’s been asked to meet the crew at. He’s not quite sure what to expect– the email had mentioned that they were looking to make connections across the world, and he really hopes he’s not going to find any of his enemies when he gets inside, because that could be awkward.

Hardison’s waiting just inside the restaurant’s entrance and opens the door as Quinn nears. There’s a look of excitement on the hacker’s face when he says, “go on in through to the back, man, we’re just waiting for two more people after you.”

“How many are here?” Quinn asks, not moving to go inside until he knows more about what he’s walking into. 

Hardison counts off on his fingers, “let’s see. There’s you, Tara, the two New Yorkers and Charlie Bradbury – hacker extraordinaire. Course, don’t get used to these guys too much because if things go to plan you won’t be working in the same teams as each other.”

He nods, stepping over the threshold, “I wouldn’t worry – not exactly the type to get sentimental, remember?”

Hardison snorts, “that’s what Eliot would have said. Before. Actually, we all said that.”

Shrugging, Quinn reminds himself he managed to walk away last time, not contact any of them again. If he decides to do this, it’s not going to mean tying himself down. Heading in the direction Hardison’s pointing, Quinn makes his way through to the back of the building. He takes his time, cataloguing his surroundings. In theory, he trusts these people more than he trusts most, but that doesn’t mean anything in his job, and he needs to be able to make a quick exit if something goes wrong. 

Even if he hadn’t have known he was walking into Leverage headquarters, he’d have been able to guess by the aesthetics of the area behind the scenes. Security cameras covered every angle but it was the multitude of places to climb and the titles of the books on the shelf in the corridor that made it distinctly _theirs_.

As he approaches the glass room where the meeting is taking place, he appraises the occupants. Parker and Eliot both look fine, relaxed and more confident than Quinn had thought they might be. Sitting with them are two women who, when they notice Quinn, stare right on back at him. He vaguely recognises one of them – a grifter, possibly, maybe from that time in Berlin – but he could be wrong. Plastering a smirk onto his face, he walks inside.

“I wasn’t sure if you’d show,” Eliot stands, and holds out a hand to shake.

Taking it, Quinn lets his gaze drift around the room before looking back at Eliot, “what can I say? I’m intrigued.”

“Thanks for giving this a chance,” Parker says, and her tone of voice makes it obvious who has the ultimate control. _That’s new._ She gestures to the woman Quinn thinks he knows, “this is Tara Cole – Grifter.”

“And I’m Charlie,” the hacker gives a half-wave, not taking her eyes off her laptop.

 _Hackers_ , Quinn thinks.

“Good to see you again, Quinn,” Tara crosses her legs, leaning back a little in her chair before continuing, “it’s been a while.”

“Yeah, seven years is-”

“Eight.”

“Eight? Really?” he whistles, “somehow that extra year makes me feel _old._ ”

“Well,” Charlie shrugs, “you said it.”

“Time to change the subject, I think, before you _all_ gang up on me,” he pretends to pout, and then turns to Parker, “so, grifter, hacker, hitter – who else are we waiting for?”

“Two grifters who are also very good thieves,” she grins, “you might have heard of them? Neal and Mozzie.”

“Caffrey?” Quinn asks, surprised – he thought Neal was out of the game now, so to speak.

“We use our skills to do good things,” says Eliot, “means it’s a pretty good option for thieves who’ve developed a conscience. You know him?”

“We helped each other out a couple times,” he grins, “I like his hats.”

“Of course you do,” a pleased sounding voice says, “my hats are brilliant.”

Quinn turns and looks at Neal, who’s flanked by someone who can only be Mozzie. “Don’t let it go to your head, Caffrey.”

“Don’t worry,” says Mozzie, “I’ll make sure he doesn’t. You must be Quinn aka Donnie aka-”

“Quinn will do – don’t want you to be giving all my secrets away,” he raises an eyebrow at Neal, “really?”

“He grows on you.”

“And I know all your aliases anyway,” Hardison says, as he walks into the room.

“That’s what you think.” Mozzie says.

“Okay,” Parker raises her voice, “time to listen up. Get comfortable.”

Quinn drops down into a chair next to Eliot and thinks about the last time they’d sat in a meeting like this, complaining about Chaos as the team had tried to keep Nate from spiraling out of control.

“I know you’ll all have questions,” Parker says.

“Maybe telling us where Nate and Sophie are would be a good start,” he suggests, expecting everyone else to agree. Instead, they all look disinterested, almost as if… “seriously? I’m the only one who doesn’t know?”

“It looks like it,” says Charlie, “sucks to be you.”

“You’re more difficult to contact,” Hardison points out, “and probably less interested when you know the reason, anyway.”

Parker smiles widely at him, “Sophie and Nate got engaged, they’re sort of retired.”

“And now you’re in charge?”

“I’m in charge,” addressing everyone again, Parker continues, “we want to set up a network of teams in as many different places as we can get to eventually, all doing what we do.”

“Ooooh,” Charlie sits up straighter in her seat, “that’s genuinely exciting.”

“We knew that from the email,” Tara says.

“The email I didn’t get. Alec texted me real quick – I had no idea what the proposal was going to be.”

“And you came here without even asking?” Quinn folds his arms, “interesting.”

“Interesting? What’s _interesting_ supposed to mean?”

Eliot clears his throat, “are you going to bicker or let Parker explain?”

“Sorry,” Charlie shrugs apologetically at Parker, “competitive streak.”

“Believe me,” says Parker, “I understand those. Now, Leverage International. We’ve asked you all here today because you’re the people we’d like to head up the new teams – be our main contacts, if you want to put it that way.”

“What about money?” Tara asks.

“We’ve got some funds, and we’d ask you to make sure any clients get their money back before taking anything for yourself.”

Quinn doesn’t ask anything of own, just sits and observes and listens as Parker and the others talk them through the plans. She’s grown, even just in the time it’s been since he last saw her. He wonders how much he could change too.

Parker stands explaining at the front of the room, Hardison and Eliot each sitting down and making comments every so often. They all seem to be constantly aware of each other, offering support against any queries or problems that their potential recruits pose.

“How can you trust us?” Neal asks, standing side by side with Mozzie.

“ _Hey,”_ Mozzie says, “I’m trust-worthy. What are you implying?”

Laughing, Parker nods at Hardison and Hardison answers, smoothly working around the fact that, really, they trust them but they don’t _trust_ them.

Everything Quinn witnesses tells him Parker, Hardison and Eliot work well together, blending into one confident unit that really seems to have all bases covered in terms of skill and knowledge. He wonders if he’ll manage to hit that balance with his own team, and then inwardly curses when he realises he’s made the decision without even thinking logically about it. Instinct can be dangerous, can result in bad, life-altering decisions, but Quinn has a hard time not following his gut.

“I’m in,” he says, interrupting Eliot half-way through him talking about their plan to have at least one other team based in the states. “Although I’d like to request _not_ to be stationed anywhere near Budapest – there was a thing with some people.”

“I heard about that,” Eliot raises an eyebrow, “and no – we were actually thinking of you heading up the second States team.”

“Which would mean Mozzie and I leaving New York?” Neal asks.

“Possibly,” says Parker, “but we’re open to negotiation about all of this – and like I said, it’s not a done deal. If any of you don’t want in, there’s no hard feelings – we know how it is.”

“I’m in,” Quinn says again, “and I don’t mind whether it’s here or somewhere else.”

“That’s enthusiastic,” says Hardison, “more than I thought you’d be, man. No offence, or anything.”

“You thought it’d be too much commitment?”

“Yes,” Hardison, Parker and Eliot all answer at once.

“Apparently so.”

“Can you blame them?” Tara shifts in her seat to face him, “none of us are exactly the settling down types.”

“Neither were they, once,” Quinn counters, “and it’s not completely settling down. It’s just…making a promise to do something good.”

“You’re in,” Parker tells him, “welcome to Leverage International.”

“Thanks.”

It sounds like quite an anti-climactic reply to his own ears, but he’s not sure what else he could have said, anyway. Having done his part again, he sits back and tunes out a little as the others hash things out. Eliot’s staying quite quiet next to him, but Quinn isn’t that surprised. That seems to be Spencer’s way; quiet, calm, until he needs to be something other than those things and then all bets are off. If Quinn’s honest with himself, he’s really looking forward to perhaps having a little more contact with Eliot, to actually being able to sort-of trust someone who understands his job, and the sacrifices it’s meant. There are other things that are going to be good about this too, he knows; working with innovative people, a relatively steady job compared to normal, maybe a chance to feel as though he’s making up for bad things he’s done in the past.

He’s _excited_ about Leverage International. So _excited_.

 

~~

  
“This isn’t going well,” Quinn says, pulling off his coffee-covered shirt, “this is not going well at all.”

Tara laughs, “you’re nervous. I can’t believe you’re actually nervous about this.”

She holds out a clean shirt for him, purple and Caffrey would shudder at the sight of it. Quinn smirks and puts it on. “It’s an inspection, Cole, an _inspection_.”

“It’s also Parker, Hardison and Eliot. I don’t think we’ve really got anything to worry about. Besides, you know we’re the team getting the best results at the minute.”

Quinn does know that. Since he and Tara set up shop in Paris along with _their_ new recruits, they’ve managed to take down a good amount of the people off their list, and assist with acquiring information to help the core Leverage team too. Neal and Mozzie are doing okay with their people in New York, but Quinn knows for a fact they’ve been running into obstacles in the form of one Peter Burke. Over in London, Charlie’s been doing a great job _when_ she hasn’t been distracted by weird murders in the area that have caught her attention. There are other teams, too, but none performing as well as they are. Which is why he’s so nervous.

He doesn’t want the ‘bosses’ showing up and changing the way they do things. Their way works, even if it’s sometimes a little less slick, a little more abrupt. Together, he and Tara make good leaders, and their teammates are bonding more and more each day. They aren’t Parker or Hardison or Eliot, and they _definitely_ aren’t Nate and Sophie, but Quinn knows that they’re good.  They’re _great._

“I think you’re forgetting who we work with,” Tara says, “Parker and the others are, you know?”

“I know.” He finishes buttoning up his shirt, runs a hand through his hair and shrugs his shoulders up and down a little. “Okay, I’m good. You ready?”

“Please, of course I am. It’s not like this is a real inspection anyway – it’s an excuse for them to hang out in Paris and see how their project’s going, that’s all. They like you, they like me, they mostly like Craig and they’ll like the rest of our team too.”

Quinn nods, he’s already snapped himself out of it but he appreciates Tara’s words anyway - and he has a feeling she’s partially directing them at herself. He shoots a quick glance at the camera feeds on his laptop screen and sees Eliot climbing out of a cab outside.

“It’s time,” Tara says, “you want to let them in or should I?”

“I’ll do it – you call the others and remind them we’re expecting them at seven tonight.”

 _Parker, Hardison and Eliot look well,_ is the first thought Quinn has when he sees them up close. They’re standing in front of the building taking in their surroundings, Parker’s hand slotted into Hardison’s. Grinning, Quinn pulls open the door and waves them inside.

“Please tell me you have a decent connection,” Hardison says immediately, looking around the room, “I have thing upon thing to organise for Nate’s bachelor party. For modern criminals who also double as good guys, you will not believe the amount of-”

“It’s good,” Quinn interrupts before the hacker can get into a full tirade, “Charlie stopped by herself and set things up before _our_ hacker – who’s very good, by the way – arrived.”

“That’s good to hear,” says Eliot, “it’s going to spare us all from listening to more ranting.”

Laughing, Quinn turns and gestures for the three of them to follow as he walks through to the back rooms that they work from. The building  
they’re based in is a small local museum that they’re using as a front, opening it just at the weekends and hiring someone to run the place.

“Is everyone here?” Parker asks.

“No – just me and Tara. We asked the others to come later today to give the five of us space to talk first.”

“Good idea. We mainly want to make sure we’ve met as many people involved as we can, and offer some advice if it’s needed.”

“Yeah,” says Eliot, “and Sophie and Nate are due in Paris tomorrow.”

“That too,” says Parker as they enter the room where Tara is, “what I want you two to know is that you’re doing a good job. You’re helping to make Leverage International a success.”

Quinn glances at Tara where she’s standing in front of the client wall – photos of everyone they’ve helped – and he isn’t ashamed to admit he feels proud of what they’ve done. Leverage International is making a difference and, really, that’s all anyone could ask.  



End file.
